-
Portsmouth Road
Hello surbiton.com
i visited the island on sunday for the healing people and planet weekend.
can i just say how fantastic this place is?
it's got a permaculture garden, a cinema, a healing room, a common room, a swap shop, a kitchen which turns out great mostly organic VEGAN food, loads and loads of information about eco ideas and products, interesting articles and information boards on the walls and displays dotted around, a little library, a well stocked kids space, a beautiful garden and a brilliant ethic...do you realise that they have recycling bins for plastic, bio, metal and general waste in all the public areas?? They also get used too...the general waste bin was nearly empty compared to the others. where else in public buildings have you seen this?
i talked to various 'residents' of the island:
they are hoping to be able to install wind, solar and water power to the island thus taking them off grid for services (which i hope you will agree is something that all of us can learn from)
they want to have more and more open workshops for eco-based health conscious culture such as early morning wild food walks and are open to anyone who wants to come and give a workshop on any subject to come and discuss it with them. one of the residents says she hopes to have a regular tea dance on the island in the lovely ballroom.
they already have REGULAR yoga, tai chi, art and music workshops.
there is an OCEANS AND RIVERS CONFERENCE on this Sunday 26 May to be attended by well respected scientists.
there is a CONSCIOUS MEDIA CONFERENCE 1-3 May. This conference is addressing what it means to report the news and what it means should the news keep deteriorating in the way that it currently is. We are more and more being controlled by PR agents hiding behind the press to get people to live shallower and shallower lives...consume more and more and more and more and more and more, be fobbed off with more and more pitiful excuses...if you really care about what's going on in the media then this should be of interest to you.
it seems to me that these people are consuming less and less and less and less. it would be a great shame for the town of surbiton to hate them because of their appearance or their alternative methods of acquisition, yes some of them do look a little less than desirable for such a respectable town, but i didn't detect the smell of unwashed crusties...i did, however, get a sense of joy and great positive energy, as well as intelligence, i chatted with one of the less good looking members of the community and he was full of wisdom despite his apperance!
going back to my part of london was a shock...everyone looked so grey and depressed.
i advise anyone who hasn't visited, and a few of you on this page hasn't, to go across the short stretch of the river and enjoy what these people have to offer. All this wonder for a donation of a few quid...now if all public services ran like this one the world would be a much better place.
As for the article in the so called newspaper the Sun...the islanders should have a hunt the t*urd competition for visitors to the island...i didn't see any!
may the gods back you all the way on this little venture raven's ait eco-warriors, i look forward to my next visit to your little paradise.
Comments
I have noticed something about the many contributions surrounding Raven's Ait on this and other surbiton.com threads. I've got to say now that I haven't done it, and didn't give it any thought until seeing it more on this particular thread.
Has anyone noticed how if people criticised the 'Islanders' they received negative Karma points? I don't approve of abuse or litigious comments. Maybe I and others should start giving out positive and negative Karma points to balance matters in case freedom of speech is stopped by a subscriber receiving too many negative points!
'paradise'?
Paradise is a place where I can go for a walk along the river and feed the ducks with my son, and not have to be constantly reminded of the number of people in this country who can't be bothered to do a day's work, and can't appreciate that not everybody wants to be involved in their pathetic 'campaigns'. Like the person above said, go and get a job in government and try and make a difference.
If I stood outside the station this evening and polled every person that came off a train about whether they'd like to see these people swept into the river and washed away for good I reckon I'd have about 99% support.
The above text has been deliberately disemvowelled as it is in breach of the Surbiton.com terms.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors to the Raven's Ait threads, positive & negative, for making this issue the most talked about event to happen in Surbiton for along time. Some people have completely missed the point of this direct action which has been taken in protest at the local councils intention to sell off this public land to a private consortium in an under the table deal that was done in principle, behind closed doors and out of the public eye. Some interested parties have no regard for the facts of this case and are clearly only interested in lining their own pockets and abusing their percieved power.
As a result of their biggotry and greed, this is now a matter of national interest.
Well done to everyone involved, especially Richard.
We could not have done this without you.
I pitty the Sea Scouts who have been in the area and using the island for many years. Time to chuck out these freeloaders and let our kids enjoy the river like they did before.
So who's collecting the contents of these recycling bins then? Or are they just waiting until they overflow and then dumping the contents outside Harts for someone else to deal with?
Hopefully they'll get removed sooner rather than later so I can walk along the riverbank without having to see what was once a pretty island now ruined by banners and flags looking like some kind of refugee camp.
It's great that they love the environment, but it would be even better if they went and got jobs somewhere to do something about it and contribute to the ailing economy rather than squatting and freeloading somewhere they aren't welcome preaching what they don't practice.
Good question!
If they are recycling, they should be paying the council (or someone) to dispose/recyle the non biodegradables.
Who is recycling the rubbish?
Who is paying for it?
Still no answer?
Come on guys and gals, enquiring minds need to know
LOL
:-)
Written by one of the islanders? Half the forum discussion on the forum seems to be despite being written in 3rd person